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PLAIN FACTS 



AND 



FIGURES. 



By D. M. HALL. 



THE MALL PUBLISHING CO.. 

Publishers, 

Washingtou, D. C. 



PLAIN FACTS 



AND 



FIGURES. 



"Equal Rights to All. Special Privileges to None." 
SOMB COMPARISONS. 



By DANIEL M. HALL. 



PUBLISHED BY 

The H.\r.L Pibi.ishixg Co., 

W.^SIIINdTON, D. C. 



TVro «KiB!e8 Received 

OCT 3 1904 
Ooosfrtght Entry 

CU3S 2^^XXo.»la 






Copyright 1904, by Daniel M. Hall. 



I'LAIX i-ACTS AXD I'lGL'KKS. 



INXRODUCTORY 

Food, clothins;' and slicltcr, with such funiisliiiii^s and 
conveniences as respectable citizenship re(|uires, are neces- 
sary to human happiness, and the j^reat majority of people 
obtain these necessaries only by workint^ for them. The 
American people, however, have great advantages for 
which the\' are indebted to no jxilitical part\ . Nature has 
given them the best of everything on the most liberal 
scale. The\' have food stuffs of nearly every variety, 
grown in abundance within the limits of their own coun- 
try — a country ec|ual in size to Europe : they have a plenti- 
ful supply of almost everything in the shape of raw 
materials for manufactures at hand, and am])le facilities 
for moving their products from ])oint to jioint as needed. 
In a word they have nearl\- every resource of held, forest 
and mine, sui)plemented by lakes, rivers and harbors, with 
an ease of transportation to make their natural wealth 
available. And still another immense advantage, they 
have absolute free trade between all the States within a 
country of continental ])roportions. 

With such natural opulence, under Democratic auspices, 
prior to 1861, peace, prosperity and happiness abounded. 
There were abundant gains for all : even the farmers, 
whose prosperity gauges the thrift of all other classes. 
with all the chances of flood and drouth, frost and insect 
pest against them, added more than ten per cent to their 
wealth every year of the last decade of Democracy. If 
debts were then incurred by farmers they were not often 
disastrous for their regular gains were sufficient to meet 
them. 

But under the withering touch of Repul)licanism all was 



PLAIN FACTS AND FIGURES. 



changed. A pitiless tariff has taken half the earnings of 
working-men and has not only rol^bed them of their com- 
forts but largely of the opportunities which were their 
dependence. " Republican policies have desolated the 
homes of millions and driven their inmates to tenancy, 
pauperism and despair. Good men have been turned to 
tramps and left to wend their weary way in hunger and 
rags. The rich gifts of the Creator are perverted, nine- 
tenths of the surplus gains of labor are snatched by the 
greedy few, the great purposes of life are defeated and 
the many are made a living sacrifice to the Mammon of 
Republicanism. With the value of farm property increas- 
ing aftnually at the rate of only 2 and 7-10 per cent, far- 
mers may see the peril of indebtedness with regular rates 
of interest, and also a warning in the rapidly increasing 
number of farm tenants. 

Tariff exactions fasten on every laborer a burden which 
may be likened to a chain and ball that requires half his 
strength to carry it about. How greatly, then, is the pro- 
ductive power of the people diminished ! How greatly 
poverty, crime and degradation are increased ! And yet, 
despite the fearful load the wealth-producers have to 
carry, the unlimited resources of the country, its freedom 
of internal trade, the vigor and hopefulness of its inhabi- 
tants, have made it possible for great development to be 
shown in many respects, as indicated b}' statistics. 

But it is only by comparing the results of special privi- 
leges, and the concentration of wealth, which have cursed 
the country under Republican rule, with the equality and 
general diffusion of weal that blessed the country when 
Democracy prevailed, that one can have any realizing 
sense of the heights of prosperity to which we should be 
raised if labor were given a free field with its earnings 
untouched by the inequality of tariff taxation and special 
privilege. Cnder such conditions the springs of produc- 
tion would be free and the immense increase of oppor- 
tunity would assure ample employment and comfort to the 
humblest worker. Want and fear of want would disap- 
pear. Men would not need to strike for better terms, and 
there would be no occasion for worry about getting em- 
plovment, more than the healthy person worries about 
sleeping or breathing. 

Washington, D. C. Daniel M. Hall. 



PLAIN FACTS AND 1-I(;URRS 

'•|'"r(>m l.iiu-olii to KiM.scvcll. iS54-H'/)4. \\li\ I am a 
Ivcpul^lican ; 'TIk- llistory and Achicvcmcnls of the Kc- 
publican I 'arty, a \ est I'ockct Clii-nnol()i,^y and Scnivenir 
of the iMftieth Anniversary. ig04." appears on the title 
])a,qe of a httle luiok compiled by ex- Postmaster (lencral 
Smith. Tlie opening: paras;"raph is as follows: 

"The Republican party is just fifty years old. It cele- 
brates its semi-centennial this year. The story of its half 
century is the eventful hi.story of the I'nited vStates durint,'- 
the j^reatest period of its existence. Throus:h most of 
these fifty years that party has controlled and fjoverned 
the country, and the advance of one has been the fflor)- of 
the other.'" 

Then after giviiiL;- about three and one-half times as 
much more space to a review of the anti-slavery contro- 
versv, he proceeds to give a chronological list of events, 
and dates of legislative enactments, and with cool ef- 
frontery sums up for the Republican party by showing 
the growth of the country and its industi-ies from 1850 to 
1900. Thus he would ai^projiriate the ten years from 
1850 to i860, a period which under the sway of Democ- 
racy, gave the country such peace. i)rogTess and pros- 
peritv as it can never know under Re])ublicanism. 

The Reiniblican party did ni.i ol)tain control of the 
general government tmtil March 4. i8()i. and could not. 
of course, change its policy until after that time, and 
hence can claim no credit for the thrift and happy condi- 
tions which covered the land during the ten years from 
1850 to i860, which so distinctively belong to the halcyon 
])erio(l of Democracy. And much of the advancement on 
industrial lines that has been made since 1861 is due to the 
im]x'tus received from the wonderful advancement made 
during the last ten years of Democratic rule prior to that 
time. Whatever tranquility, hap])iness. growth and pros- 
perit\ have come to the people during the Republican 
period of which Mr. Smitli speaks, bears no more com- 
parison to what the Deiuocratic period brought than is 
found in the dismal winter with its chilling blasts and 



PLAIX FACTS AND FIGURES. 



leafless trees, in comparison with radiant summer in her 
green and rosy attire. 

Economy Under Jkfferson. — The Federalists had 
possession of the Government during its first twelve years, 
from 1789 to 1 80 1. From that time on the Democrats, 
called Republicans until Jackson's time, controlled the 
Government until March 4, 1861, the first eight years 
being under the administration of Thomas Jefferson, who 
inaugurated a system of economy, fairness and equality 
that prevailed. for sixty years. This sixty years was an 
era of such freedom, advancement, glory and happy con- 
ditions as has been known and enjoyed b}' no other nation 
of modern times. 

It is true, during this time the Federalists, under the 
name Whig, succeeded twice in electing a president. Gen- 
eral Harrison in 1840 and General Taylor in 1848, but did 
not succeed in changing the policy of the Government 
until they came into power in 1861 under the name Re- 
publican. So, too, since 1861 the Democrats have twice 
elected Grover Cleveland president without effecting any 
change in the Federalist or Republican policy. 

But Senator Fairbanks, in his speech at White River 
Junction. Vt., referring to Cleveland's last administration, 
said : "They were four years of arrested development, 
panic and distress, without a parallel in American history." 
But he has only to remember that arrested development, 
panic, distress, strikes, lockouts, tramps and scabs are all 
of Republican origin ; there were no such disturbances 
prior to 1861 under Democratic rule. In the same speech 
he says : "The policies of the Republican party have 
brought immeasurable prosperity." He should have 
added, "to the few." 

"The last three years," he says, "have been years of 
exceptional prosperity," but he does not prove it by com- 
paring them with the Democratic years of the 50's. He 
further says: "As in 1892. the Democratic party now 
denounces protection as robbery of the many to enrich the 
few and pledges itself to overthrow the Dingley law. Let 
the American people take the Democratic platform and 
the record of the last Democratic administration in one 
hand and the Republican platform in the other and pro- 
nounce their potential judgment." Such a proposition is 
too utterly senseless. Instead, let the American people 
realize what their conditions and achievements have been 



PLAIX FACTS AND i<iGLRUS. 



under the Republican i)oHcit's which have steadfastly pre- 
vailed during- the last 43 years, as compared with what 
they were under Democratic policies during- the "free 
trade era" before the advent of Republicanism. 

For the period of seventy-two and a third years from 
March 4, 1789. when the Government went into operation 
under its present Constitution, to June 30, 1861, its total 
expenses, includinj^ the Revolutionary war debt, the cost 
of the last war with En^j^land. the Mexican war and more 
than a dozen Indian wars, were between two and three 
billion tlollars ( $2.7<j3,()00.432). 

The first twelve years of the (lovernment were adminis- 
tered by the Federalists with all the i)omp and ceremony 
of the courtly tjovernments of Europe, but when Jefferson 
came in Federal extravairance liave way to economy and 
Democratic simplicity. 

In 1800. the last year oi Fetleralism. the ])opulation was 
5,308.483. and the total expenses of the Ciovernment were 
$io.8i3.()7i. or two dollars and three cents for each in- 
habitant, which would be an averag^e tax of ten dollars and 
fifteen cents for a family of five. In 18 10 the population 
had reached 7,239.881 in number, and the total expenses 
for that year were onl\- $8,474,753. equal to one dollar and 
sixteen cents for each inhabitant, or an average of five 
dollars and eighty-five cents for each family of five ; but a 
trifle more than half as much as under Federalism. The 
policies inaugurated b\' Jeft'erson were so beneficent and 
so won public confidence that they remained i)redominant 
for sixty years. 

During this time the great jobbing schemes called in- 
ternal improvements were kept well in subjection ; the 
United States Bank was no longer a Government attach- 
ment; the long battle with Mamiltonism against high tar- 
iff was virtually won. and the "free trade era" prevailed 
for fourteen years. 

It was the "golden age" of this country. The general 
wealth increased twelve and a half i)er cent a year, one 
year with another, and it was left largely in the hands of 
the people, not given to the few. Farmers then owned 
half the wealth of the country and were adding more than 
10 per cent gains every year. In i860 nearly every one 
owned his farm, and those who happened to owe felt no 
concern ; their gains reassured them. At that time neither 
the Xati(jn, States or coqiorations owed anything abroad 



PLAIN FACTS AND FIGURES. 



nor was there any foreign ownership of American lands 
or other properties. American vessels then did seventy- 
five per cent of our foreign carrying trade ; now nine per 
cent, less than one-eighth as much. 

Wages of workingmen were then constantly increasing: 
there was no conflict between capital and labor; the suc- 
cess of the employer meant success for the employes. 
There was no restraint on immigration. Foreigners were 
coming to us in greater numbers than ever before or since, 
relatively; a large portion of them, it was said, from the 
poorhouses and prisons of the old world, and yet Demo- 
cracy welcomed them all, gave them work and made good 
citizens of most of them. Democracy made us far the 
freest, the most prosperous and happiest people on the 
face of the wide earth. 

In comparison with Jeffersonian Democracy that had 
made this country an earthly paradise, think of the states- 
manship which could govern such a country only by 
"saving" it, at the cost of the life-blood of a half million 
of its own citizens, and ten billion dollars of the wealth 
accumulated by years of industrious toil ! Think of the 
policy that has put nearly all the wealth of the countr}- in 
the hands of a few ; that has destroyed our merchant ma- 
•rine and has given the ownership of our lands, bonds and 
industries to foreigners to the extent of two and a half 
billion dollars. 

The Cost of Republicanism.. — In the short space of 
four years, from June 30, 1861, to June 30, 1865, the ex- 
penditures of the United States under Republican rule 
were over three billion dollars ($3,352,380,410), almost a 
third more than for the entire period of seventy-two and 
a third years before. For the period of 38 years, from 
June 30, 1865, to June 30, 1903, they amounted to nearly 
thirteen billions ($12,819,111,367), or a total of over six- 
teen billions ($16,171,491,778), for the 42 years of Re- 
publican rule. 

Such stupendous expenditures clearly indicate extrava- 
gance, corruption and lack of statesmanship in the Re- 
publican party, and yet they are only incidents in its bale- 
ful career, which have made it easy to fasten the tariff sys- 
tem on the labor of the country ; a vicious system that per- 
petuates itself. Not only has good government and every 
legitimate industry felt its withering touch, but every 
social, moral and religious interest has suffered as well. 



I'LAIX 1-ACTS AM) FIGURES. 



Its course can be traced in every page of its history by the 
wrong^s it has inflicted and l>y the demorahzation it has 

A jjeople can no nmre Ik- C" )nit()rlahk'. prosperous and 
hapi)\' when envirt)ned by concHtions that rob them of 
equal ri<;hts, oi opportunities, and a hirj^e portion of their 
earninj^s than the Ijoatnian can make lieadway against 
wind and current. The measure of <:^eneral prosperity 
determines the sum of human happiness, which is termed 
the general welfare. To show the blight that Republi- 
canism, like the shadow of the deadly Upas tree, has cast 
upon ever\thing. I shall give a few statistics from official 
sources and census reports. 

The comparisons in many cases will be in dollars, but it 
nuist be rememl)ered they are dollars closely related to the 
masses ; dollars, too. in a sense, are the only things which 
will procure for them the necessities, comforts and joys 
of life. Then whatever hinders the individual from get- 
ting one of these dollars or robs him of its possession, de- 
prives him of so much comfort, happiness and the means 
of advancement. 

The Wealth or Farmers. — First in importance, per- 
haps, are farm statistics. The value of farms and farm 
property in the United States in 1850 was $3,967,343,580; 
in i860 the value was $7,980,493,063. an increase of $4.- 
013.149.483. equal to loi per cent. With nearly half as 
many more of our best agricultural States ready to come 
in; with a merchant marine that covered the world to 
take our surplus products abroad ; with greater develop- 
ment, improved machinery, increased railroad and other 
facilities to overcome the crudities and disadvantages in- 
cident to those early days, can anyone doubt that the ratio 
of increase in the value of farm property would have been 
far greater under continued Democratic rule than it had 
previously been ? Cut with no greater percentage of in- 
crease for succeeding decades than for the one from 1850 
to i860, the value of farm property in the United States 
would have amounted to $130,260,863,839. or $35,960,- 
863.839 more than the entire wealth of the country in the 
vear 1900. which under Republicanism reached the sum 
of only $94,300,000,000. 

The "magnificent record" of 40 years of Repul)licanism 
that the census shows, is found in the value of the farm 



lo PLAIN FACTS AND FIGURES. 

property of the countr}- wliich in 1890 was $16,082,267,- 
689, and in 1900 was $20,514,001,838, an increase of 
$4,431,734,149 or 27 per cent for that decade of Repubh- 
can prosperity ; that is, with 142 per cent more population, 
with greatly improved machinery and labor-saving de- 
vices ; with six times as many miles of railroads in opera- 
tion ; with twice as much money per capita, in circulation, 
and with forty years of Republican tarifif to build up the 
"'home market" the percent increase in the value of farms 
and farm property was but little more than one-fourth as 
much for the Republican decade ending in 1900 as for the 
Democratic decade, with all its disadvantages, which 
ended in i860. Or stated in another way, the agricul- 
tural wealth of the country in the year 1900 was $109,- 
746,862,001 less than it would ha^'e been under continued 
Democratic policies. 

The value of farm animals in 1850 was $544,180,516; 
in i860, $1,089,329,915, more than doubled in ten years of 
Democracy. The total value of farm animals in 1890 was 
$2,418,766,028; in 1900. $2,228,123,134, a decrease of 
value for that Re])ublican decade of nearly two hundred 
million dollars ($190,642,894), though the number of per- 
sons engaged in agriculture during that time increased 
(1,872,293) nearly two millions. Why this falling off in 
the meat supply? Had the ability of the people to buy 
anything to do with it? 

Speaker Cannon says Americans are the best fed people 
on the face of the earth, but if we go back to the era of 
Democracy when low tariff" prevailed, against wdiich pro- 
tectionists are always warning us, we find that in i860 
there were 24 head of neat cattle. 16 sheep and 58 swine 
more for each one hundred inhabitants than in 1900 after 
.40 years of Republican prosperity. 

Speaker Cannon also says the crop prospects are good 
and he can see no reason why the Republicans should not 
win in the coming election. Sure enough ! The easy- 
going farmers are expected to testify their appreciation 
of the prospect of good crops by voting the Republican 
ticket. And though the crops should prove a failure this 
year could farmers be so ungrateful as to waver in their 
allegiance to the Republican party after all the good crops 
of the past? If any faltered would not the great states- 
man immediately call them back to a contemplation of the 
■census reports of 1900 to show them how nnich they were 



I'LAIX FACTS AND I-KU kl-.S. u 



indebted to the Republican party for the largely increased 
crops of that year? Of wheat. i22.(/)7.505 bushels more 
were profluced in i(>oo than in i8<)o: of corn. ^H5. 132. 516 
jjushols more: of oats, 285.504.<)8() bushels more, 

l>ut the (listiniiuished six-aker mi.nht not call attention to 
the fact that notw ithslandins;- the immense increase of pro- 
duction, the value of wheat crop of 1900 was $1 1,248.501 
less than that of 1890; the value of the corn en))) was $3.- 
215,417 less, and the value of the oat crop was ?i3-37*^-55 
less. That is the total product of the three principal farm 
crops — wheat, corn and oats — for the year 1900. was 
1.023,605,010 bushels cjrcater than was produced in i8(jo, 
but the value was $27,841,171 less. In comparison with 
i8<)0 the farmers not only raised over a billion bushels of 
«^rain in 1900 for which they ^ot nothin.i,^ but were out 
nearly 28 million dollars besides: and yet in acknowleds-- 
ment'of such '■unexami)led" prosjx'rity a larg-e majority 
voted the Republican ticket. 

If farmers will with their ballots invite the demoraliza- 
tion and ruin which Republicanism bring:s they should 
pav well for it, but it is hard on their innocent ncig-hbors 
who do not want it. 

In view of the falling- off in the value of farm crops 
alrcadv cited, and similar losses in almost every other di- 
rection, except for the few. the increase of two and seven- 
tenths per cent in the value of farm property of the coun- 
try, reported in the last census, must be due for the most 
part to the addition of the 1. 175.016 new farms during 
that decade, rather than to individual gains of farmers. 

r>ut the two and seven-tenths per cent, increase in the 
value of farm property which the last census shows, can- 
not be reckoned a gain to farmers since, under Republican- 
ism 36 per cent of them have utterly lost their homes, and 
20 per cent are mortgaged, which means that 56 per cent 
of the farm property has passed into other hands, leaving 
only 44 per cent owned by farmers free of mortgage. So 
relativelv. as compared with other classes, instead of own- 
ing half and gaining ten per cent, as they did in the fifties, 
umler "'free trade" Democracy, the farmers have lost six- 
sevenths of what thev then had. 

HoxoK To Whom Honor is Dlm:. — It is broadly and 
continually asserted that the Republican party with its 
high-tariff policy has greatly distinguished itself as the 
promoter of education, morals, temperance, religion and 



12 PLAIN FACTS AND FIGURES. 



every form of material thrift and advancement. In proof 
of such claims ex-Postmaster General Smith, on the con- 
cluding- pages of his "History and Achievements of the 
Republican Party," gives a list of some twenty items, in- 
cluding farm crops with their increase from 1850 to 1900, 
and says the material progress of the country in the period 
under review is unexampled in the history of the Nation, 
as may be read at a glance in the table which he gives and 
is here copied in part, as follows : 

1850. 1900. 

Number of farms 1,449,073 5-737-372 

Value of live stock $544,180,516 $3.075477»703 

Value of farm property. $3,967,343,580 $20,439,901,164 
Wealth, real and personal $7,135,780,000 $94,300,000,000 
Capital invested in manu- 
factures $533,245,351 $9,831,486,500 

Value of manufactures. . $1,019,106,616 $13,039,279,566 

Pig Iron made, tons 563755 I3-789.-242 

(In 1903.) 

Exports $151,893,720 $1,484,681,995 

Imports $178,136,818 $995,447,175 

The above table makes a fine array of instances and 
figures to which political guides point and exultingly ask, 
"What is there in all the past that bears any comparison to 
the stupendous prosperit}- recorded by 50 years of Repub- 
licanism?" But a claim based upon the data above given, 
like all the professions which they noisily parade, is the 
veriest sham when stripped of its false pretenses. True to 
their predatory habits, instead of reckoning from i\Iarch 
4, 1861, the time when their rule began, they commence 
with 1850, and thus take ten years from the period of De- 
mocracy's fairest fame that they may fabricate a showing- 
for themselves, and without which Republicanism makes 
a sorry exhibit, as is shown whenever each period speaks 
for itself. 

As I have already referred to the increase in value of 
farm property, I take up the next item in the table, the 
wealth of the country, real and personal, which he gives 
as $7,135,780,000 in 1850, and which leaped to $94,300,- 
000,000 in 1900, but ten years of this time were under 
Democratic administration. Let us see what the increase 
was during that time. 



I'LAIX l-AC'TS AXI) I'IGURHS. 13 



The wealth ni" the country — 

In 1S50 was .'>7.i.^5.7''^t),cxx5 

In iSfMT was $i().i5<j/)i6.ooo 



An incivaso of. . . $<), 023, 836,000 
or 126 per cent fur that I )eni()cratic decade. 

The wealth of the country — 

In i()00 was $<)4.300.ooo.ooo 

In i8<p was $r)5,o37.o9i.ooo 



An increase of . . . $29,262,909,000 

or 45 per cent for that decade of "unexanii)led" Republi- 
can prosperity, only a little more than a third as much as 
with Democratic freedom of trade. Stated in another 
wa\, the gain of wealth per capita from 1850 to i860 
was 67 per cent : from 1890 to 1900 only 17 per cent, about 
one-fourth as great as during the Democratic period when 
impecunious immigrants were pouring into this country 
faster than ever before or since, relatively, and were 
counted in making up the average per capita wealth. 

Prosperity ^NIi-asurkd bv the Tariee. — Those who 
have studied past conditions in this country, know that 
prior to 1846 our fathers, among the common people, had 
to denv themselves all luxuries and many of the comforts 
of life in order to get a very humble home paid for in a 
lifetime. lUit from 1846 on, under a reduced tarifif. this 
class began to flourish and by i860, for the most part, had 
acquired the ownership of substantial, and in many cases 
elegant, homes, and everywhere an air of thrift was ap- 
parent. The story of relief that came from low tariff is 
plainly told by the history of the period covered. 

From 1789. almost continuously, high tariffs with some 
variations prevailed imtil 1846, the beginning of the "free 
trade" or low tariff' era. As shown by statistics, just as 
the tariff varied, so in like manner the jirosperity of the 
nation varied. 

The average wealth of each inhabitant of the United 
States in the year 1800 was $210. From 1800 to 1810 the 
average wealth increased to $215. or five dollars for each 
inhabitant during the ten years. For a part of the next 
decade higher tariff' was in vogue on account of the in- 



14 PLAIX FACTS AND FIGURES. 

creased expenditures caused by the last war with Great 
Britain, and instead of an increase of wealth there was a 
decrease which brought the average down to $205, ten 
dollars less to each inhabitant, and twice as much loss as 
there had been gain during the previous ten years. From 
1820 to 1830 there was an increase of ten dollars, bringing 
the average per capita wealth up to $215. From 1830 to 
1840, with slightly lowered tariff, the increase was fifteen 
dollars, making the average wealth $230. During the 
latter part of the decade from 1840 to 1850, much lower 
tariff" was in operation, evidence of which is seen in an in- 
crease of wealth equal to sixty-seven dollars for each in- 
dividual, bringing the average per capita wealth up to 
S307. By this time the common people were getting rid 
of many of the disabilities with which they had been 
shackled by high tariff, and, with the schedule again con- 
siderably lowered, the average gain per inhabitant during 
the decade from 1850 to i860 was $206, bringing the 
wealth of the country up to a sum equal to $513 for each 
person. 

If on a per capita capital of only $307, with the country 
in a comparatively crude and undeveloped state such 
gains could be made under Democracy, what increase 
might not reasonably be expected in the next forty years 
with the rapidly increasing facilities for both production 
and transportation; with 12 other States rich in agricul- 
tural and mineral wealth to be added and with a per capita 
capital already expanded to $513 with which to commence 
the succeeding decade ? 

Does anyone outside of a lunatic asylum doubt that 
under continued Democracy the increase of wealth would 
have continued with a constantly increasing ratio? But 
had the rate of increase been no greater for each decade 
than from 1850 to i860, and had the increased facilities 
of production, all the greater advantages and additions 
counted for nothing, the wealth of the country in igoo 
would have amounted to $421,565,238,966, whereas, under 
Republican rule, it amounted to only $94,300,000,000. 

Suppose in i860 some mortal had been invested with a 
foresight of conditions and authority to say to the money 
power, "Stay your mad greed ! I can offer you something 
better. With our abundant natural resources the wealth 
of the country, even imder Republican policies, will 
amount to something more than 94 billion dollars in 1900. 



TLAIX FACTS AXD i-lGLKKS. 



With your system of tariff spoliation and privilcpfcd extor- 
tion nine-tenths of this will l)e in your hands, while all the 
rest of the people will have hut one-tenth. KvU your jxjr- 
tion will be eoined out of the toil, the sweat and the misery 
of the many. 

"Let the country remain umler the sway of 1 K-mocracy, 
that is, under the rule of equaT riti^hts and equal privilejjjes 
that now prevails, and with the measure of freedom that 
the wealth producers now enjoy, and with no jjreatcr per- 
centai^e of gains than have been made the past decade, we 
can jrive you, not nine-tenths, but $<j4,3oo,cx)0,ooo, the 
entire sum which the wealth of the country will amount to 
under Republicanism in the year Kjoo, and still have left 
for the rest of the peoi)le $327.265,238.</)r), about three 
and one-half times as much as there will be for all under 
tlie system that plunders labor. 

l>ettcr still, under this fairer jilan, much of the wealth 
will be owned and enjoyed by those who have produced it. 
Not that capital will have less, but with .qreater freedom 
■ from extortion and injustice the many will be prosperous, 
hopeful and happy, which will mean prosperity for all. 
There can be no prosperity that capital does not share. 

Low Tariff Best For M.\xL'FACTURr:RS. — Like the 
owner of the goose wdiich laid golden eggs, the manu- 
facturers were not content to grow rich on the low 
tariff of the fifties, and set about killing their goose with 
high tariff', as will be seen from the following statistics: 

Value of manufactured ])ro(lucts — 

In 1850 w^as $1, OK). 106,616 

In i860 was Si ,885.861 .676 



An increase in value of. $866,755,060 
or 85 per cent in ten years under low tariff. 

\'alue of manufactured ])roducts — 

In i8()0 was $().372.437.283 

In 1900 was $i3,03<).27(j.5r)() 



An increase in value of. $3,666,842,283 
or 39 per cent during ten years of protection prosperity. 

The gain itself was 1 18 per cent greater under low tariff* 
than the gain under high jirotection. Remember, too,. 



i6 PLAIN FACTS AND FIGURES. 

Democratic prosperity was shared by manufacturers, mer- 
chants, workingmen and all others. There was peace, 
contentment and happiness for all ; no strikes, no mobs, no 
military. 

With vastly improved machinery, greater skill of opera- 
tives and increased facilities for handling, with twice as 
much wealth and circulation of money per capita, the in- 
creased per cent in manufactures from 1890 to 1900 
should at least have been double that from 1850 to i860; 
but if it had been equal, even for that single decade, the 
value would have been $17,339,008,973, or $4,299,729,407 
more than it was. 

Senator Depew says we now produce annually two 
billion dollars worth of manufactured commodities more 
than we have a market for, which he also says means stag- 
nation and decay to the Nation. Two billions is but a 
trifle more, according to census reports, than is taken by 
tariff every year from the pockets of the consumers and 
given to the manufacturers. With such wholesale robbery 
of the people need there be any wonder that goods cannot 
be sold ? ^loneyless people cannot be cash customers, nor, 
as a rule, c^n they be valuable citizens. 

If labor for its share had received, not money, but a 
chance to earn money, to the the amount of only half of 
what the increase fell off, as compared with i860, it would 
have been sufficient to give employment to an additional 
force of 3,583,019 men at two dollars a day for 300 days, 
amounting to six hundred dollars to each for his year's 
work. 

Value of cotton products manufactured in the United 
States — 

In 1850 was $61,869,184 

In i860 was 115,681,774 



An increase of . . . $53,812,590 
or a gain of 87 per cent for the low tariff decade. 

Value of cotton ])roducts manufactured in the United 
States — 

In 1890 was $267,981,724 

In 1900 was 339,200,320 



An increase of... $71,218,596 



PLAIN FACTS AND FIGURES. 17 



The p:ain should at least have been ifX) per cent, but it 
was only 26, or considerably less than a third as j^reat as 
durin>;' the low tarilt decade. 

Production of \vt)ol in the I'nited States — 

In 1850 was 5-.5i^>.95'J P<nuids. 

In i860 was 60.264,913 pounds. 

An increase of . . . 7747.954 pounds, 
or fourteen and seven-tenths per cent for the low tariff 
decade, \vhen. for a i)art of the time at least, there was no 

duty on wool. 

Production of wool in the United States — 

In 1890 was 276,000.000 pounds. 

In 1900 was 288.636.621 ])ounds. 

An increase of . . . 12,636.621 pounds, 
or four and six-tenths per cent, about one-third as much 
increase with a tariff of 66 per cent as during- the decade 
when wool was free. 

A'alue of the manufactured products of wool in the United 
States — 

In 1850 was . $48,608,779 

In i860 was 73.454.000 

An increase of... $24,845,221 
or 51 ])er cent for the low tariff' decade. 

A^alue of the manufactured jiroducts of wool in the United 
States — 

In 1890 was $270,527,511 

In 1900 was 296,990.484 

An increase of... $26.462.' ^73 
or eight and eight-tenths per cent for a high tariff" decade. 

Value of the imports of the i^roducts of wool into the 
United States — 

In 1850 was $i9.620.6i«) 

In i860 was 43.141.988 

An increase of $23,521,369 

a gain of 119 per cent for the low tariff decade. 



i8 PLA IN FACTS AND FIGURES. 

\alue of tlie imports of the products of wool into the 
United States — 

In 1890 was $56,582,432 

In 1900 was 16,164,446 

A decrease of $40,417,986 

a falling- off of 71 and four-tenths per cent for the high 
tariff decade— with a 66 per cent tariff on wool. 

In i860 when Democracy was loudly denounced as un- 
progressive. the people were able to buy one dollar and 
thirty-six cents worth of imported woolen products and 
two dollars and thirtv-three cents worth of home manufac- 
ture for each inhabitant of the United States ; but in 1900, 
under the institution of a high protective tariff which is 
oft'ered as a guaranty that American labor shall be better 
clothed, etc., only 21 cents Avorth of woolen products were 
imported, and the measure of the home market was found 
in the increase of the home products of wool which was 
less than one-fifth as large, relatively, as in i860, while 
for the vear 1900 the increase in the amount of wool 
produced was only one-third as large proportionately as 
in i860. 

American vessels engaged in foreign trade — 

In 1850 were 1,585,711 tons. 

In i860 were 2,546,237 tons. 

An increase of . . . 960,526 tons, 
or 60 per cent for that low tariff* decade. 

American vessels engaged in foreign trade had fallen off — 

In 1890 to 946,695 tons. 

In 1900 to 826,694 tons. 

A decrease of . . . . 120,001 tons, 
equal to a loss of 12 per cent during a decade of "unex- 
ampled" Republican prosperity. That is, w^e had 1,719.543 
tons more shipping engaged in foreign trade way back in 
i860 than in 1900, w4iich illustrates the progress made in 
forty years under Republican auspices. But it is said we 
make it up in our immense internal trade which finds ex- 
pression in our coastwise and lake ship])ing. Let us see : 



I'LAIX FACTS AXD I'lGUKES. i<> 



Anien'can vessels entjajijt'd in douH'Stic trade — 

In 1850 were i,<)4<).743 tons. 

In i8()0 were 2.807.631 tons. 

An increase of... S57.888 tons, 
eqnal to 44 per cent .qain nnder un|)ro.q;ressive Democracy. 

American vessels en,i;ai;ed in domestic tra<le — 

in i8tjO were 3.477.802 tons. 

In i»;oo were 4.338.145 tons. 

^ \n increase of. . . S(k).343 tons, 

a i;"ain e{|ual to less than 25 per cent nnder a liiL;li pro- 
tective tariff. 

American vessels eni^a^ed in the commerce of the threat 
lakes— 

In 1850 were 198.226 tons. 

In i860 were 467.774 tons. 

An increase of . . . 26(j,548 tons, 
equal lo a s^ain of 135 per cent without Repuhlican pnj- 
tection and prosperity. 

American vessels eni^as.;ed in the commerce of the great 
lakes— 

In 1890 were 1.063,063 tons. 

In 1900 were i-5'^'5-587 tons. 

An increase of . . . 502,524 tons, 
a gain ecjual to 46 per cent W'ith high tariff and the pro- 
digious prosperity of the great lake region, ahout one- 
third as much as under low tarifif. 

There is jierhaps no one thing with which the I\.e])nh- 
licans so greatly plume themselves as the vastness of our 
foreign commerce, as though its growth were all due to 
Repuhlican policies. l^)Ut in this, as in all similar preten- 
sions, they have no case : they are simply inij^osters. 
The foreign commerce, that is. the sum of the imports 
and exports, of this country — 

In 1850 was '. . $317,885,252 

In i860 was 687.192.176 

An increase of .... $3(39.306.924 



20 PLAIN FACTS AND FIGURES. 

a gain equal to upwards of 113 per cent for that decade 
during' the "free trade era." 

The foreign commerce of the United States — 

In 1890 was $849,941,184 

In 1900 was 1,394,483.082 

An increase of $597,285,173 

a gain equal to 36 per cent, about- one-third as much as 
the Democratic increase. 

Had the rate of increase for each succeeding decade 
been only as great as that of the Democratic decade from 
1850 to i860 the commerce of the United States in the 
year 1900 would have amounted to $14,004,728,700, 
nearly seven times as much as it was under Republi- 
canism. And instead of throwing 60 thousand seamen 
out of employment, there would have been a call for more 
than nine hundred thousand. 

But Democracy would not have been contented with 
the gains which were being made a half century ago, nor 
with any gains that did not fairly and legitimately sur- 
pass all the rest of the world as greatly as do our natural 
resources. 

No one can offer any valid reason why the commerce 
of this country should not be as large per capita as that 
of any country on the face of the globe, nor can any 
thoughtful person doubt that under the Democratic policy 
of equal rights as illustrated during the fifties, that it 
would long since have outstripped all the nations of earth. 
If, like Holland, its per capita foreign commerce in 1900 
had been two hundred and eighty-four dollars and eighty- 
three cents, its aggregate foreign trade would have 
amounted to $21,733,493,719, nearly ten times as much as 
it then was. 

As is plainly and indisputably shown in every line of 
census figures, the policies that have prevailed since 1861 
have inflicted a loss of many millions of dollars in every 
department of American industry. And a continuation 
of the story of corruption and oppression is read in the 
corresponding increase of poverty and general discontent 
among the workingmen all over the country. 

Though the tariff iniquity had been quite firmly planted 
under the leadership of such advocates as Hamilton, fol- 



TLAIX FACTS AXD 1-lf.l RI'S. 21 



lowed by Clay, and watered l>y the corrupting nitlueiices 
of the constant stream of wealth wrun^ from all the tired, 
sweaty toilers of the land, it was in a fair way to he rooted 
out when an uncontrolled frenzy of reform seized tin- 
people in i8f)0 which led to their com])lete capture 1)\ the 
money power. 

The Golden Ack. — The averag-e wealth in this coun- 
try, per inhabitant, in the fifties was small as compared 
with now. but that was a jKTiod which stands out in every 
incident as the "o-olden a}a:e" of this country. The ac- 
cumulations and rewards of labor were then so much 
more fairly shared and the wealth so much more justly 
distributed that every man able and willing- to work, ctnild 
provide himself and family with the comforts and usually 
with many of the luxuries of life. 

Silks for the Common People. — With f^reater fair- 
ness in the distribution of wealth there is more ability to 
buy and consequently an increased demand for the pro- 
ducts of labor, as witness the manufacture and imj^orts 
of silks under low tariff and later under high taritT. 
Though the average per capita wealth was nearly three 
times greater than during the low tariff period, fewer 
people were able to buy silks in 1900 than in 1860. 

The increase of the manufacture of silks in the United 
States in i860, as compared with 1850, was 264 per cent. 

The increase in silk manufacture in 1900 over 1890 was 
53 per cent, about one-tifth as much as in the former 
period. 

The increase in the imi)orts of silks from 1850 to i860 
Avas 85 per cent. From 1890 to 1900 there was a decrease 
in imports of it^ per cent. 

During the period of the fifties the number of inhabi- 
tants was only about one-third as many, and the average 
wealth of each about one-third as much as in 1900, and 
yet with all this disparity of numbers and wealth against 
the earlier period the people, under low tariff, in i860, 
were able to buy imported silks to the amount of $32,726.- 
134. Under the prosperity of 1900. with largely increased 
numbers and increased aggregate wealth, the imports of 
silks amounted to only $30,894,373, nearly six per cent 
less than forty years before. 

The common people can enjoy silks, and they can buy 
them. too. when not robbed of their earnings or their op- 
portunities. With the same proportional and well-diffused 



22 PLAIN FACTS AND FIGURES. 

prosperity which prevailed in i860, the country would 
have imported for its people silks in the year 1900 to the 
amount of $205,589,843, and there would have been a cor- 
responding" demand for silks of home manufacture. 

If a moderate abatement of the tariff leaves the people 
so much of the good things of earth as is shown by the silk 
statistics just cited, which apply to every other commodity 
as well, foreign or domestic, we must conclude that the 
benefits would be almost beyond calculation if no one had 
to pay tribute to another. 

I am aware that this is a materialistic or financial treat- 
ment of the matter, but without success in this respect 
there will be little or no progress in any other direction. 
It takes money to procure the means for advancement in 
everything that makes for higher and better citizenship, 
and the righteousness that refrains from tariff spoliation, 
leaves him who labors in possession of means and oppor- 
tunities for material prosperity, upon which depends the 
social uplifting that firmly establishes him on a higher 
plane of citizenship. 

Thk Workingman's Opportunity. — President Roose- 
velt says in his letter of acceptance that "At all hazards 
the American workingman must be protected in his stand- 
ard of wages, in his standard of living, and must be se- 
cured the fullest opportunity for employment." And if 
the American workingman should pause to think for him- 
self and ask how all this is to be assured him, the ready 
answer would be protection against foreign pauper-made 
goods, which the Republicans promise to give him by put- 
ting a tariff on the necessities of life equal to an average 
of more than 50 per cent. That is, when the consumer 
buys a dollar's worth of sugar he must pay one dollar and 
seventy-five cents, which is an addition of 75 cents to its 
actual market value. For a dollar's worth of salt he must 
pay a dollar and forty cents ; forty cents for tariff for 
which he gets nothing. The following are some of the 
schedule rates of tariff now required, each of which means 
so much added to the normal price of each dollar's worth 
of goods, viz : 

Sugar 75 cents, salt 40 cents, spices 27 cents, molasses 
29 cents, woolen goods 95 cents, rice 65 cents, leather 
goods 35 cents, glass goods 60 cents, cotton cloth 58 cents, 
wearing apparel and clothing 50 cents, plushes 100 cents, 
jute carpets 41 cents, l^russels and tapestry carpets 35 



L.«»C. 



i'LAlX FACTS WD I'ICL'KKS. 23 



cents, paints and oils 53 cents, i.itcs m) cents, products of 
flax 50 cents, yjfrns i 14 cents, blankets ()0 cents, hats 131 
cents, shawls 104 cents, knit fabrics 185 cents — that is. U) 
^Qt a dollar's worth of knil fabrics one nnist pay two dol- 
lars and ei,i^hty-five cents — dress fj;-oods 50 cents, ready- 
made elothinq- 105 cents, jewelry 45 cents, boots and shoes 
25 cents. rul)l)er u^oods 35 cents. }4:loves 57 cents, smoker's 
articles f)0 cents, umbrellas 50 cents, spirits from j:jrain 
216 cents, malt licpiors 68 cents, wines 29 cents, marble or 
stone 50 cents, carriaijes 45 cents, iron and steel products 
45 cents, machinery and tools 45 cents, lumber 20 cents, 
furniture 30 ceiUs. and so to the end of an almost inter- 
minable list. 

P.ut that which is added to the i)rices of thinj^j^s by the 
tariff imposed by Government is not all. ( )ther additions 
are made by increased freig-ht charg-es of transportation 
companies, and by the larg^er marg^ins of merchants, deal- 
ers and others who strive to reimburse themselves for 
what the tariff takes from them, so the dollar for which 
the workin.c:man oives the full equivalent brin.c^s him 
hardly fifty cents' worth of the things for which he ex- 
changes it. 

Don't Know Thev are Ror.nEn. — Carried away by the 
false promises of better wages, better living, fuller op- 
portunities for employment and a home market the 
workingmen and farmers give their votes of consent to 
tariff' robbery without stopping to think that seven-eighths 
of the plunder is taken from their own limited earnings. 

Under Republicanism the people of this country have 
been brought to a condition where 69 per cent of them 
have no homes of their own, and the larger part of these 
have only their hands with which to procure shelter, food 
and clothing. \\'hat justification does the farmer have 
for joining with the manufacturers to rob these poor peo- 
ple who are terrorized by the warning that their standard 
of wages, their standard of living will be lowered, and 
their op|)ortunity for emjiloyment lost unless they uphold 
the svstem that' makes them pay double i)rices for what 
they buy. Perhajis the farmer agrees with the manufac- 
turer in saying that a tariff' tax is so mingled and con- 
cealed in the prices of the various commodities that the 
consumer does not know that he is being robbed. But 
because one takes poison without knowing it does he 
escape its deadly cft'ects? 



24 PLAIN FACTS AND FIGURES. 

Let us look at a few of the items of the unjust and 
oppressive load that is put upon the consumers of this 
country, the majority of whom are poor working people. 
The following are from the statistical abstract of the 
United States Treasury for the year 1903 : 

Goods imported in 1903. \'alue. Duty. Percent. 

Sugar, confectionery 

and molasses $65,950,814 

Rice 2,894,156 

Leather goods 11,307.565 

Goods manufactured 

from glass 6,969,959 

Goods manufactured 

from cotton 51,706,978 

Woolen goods. ...... 19,302.007 

Thread on spools. . . . 7,355,66i 



$63,630,423 
1,342,512 
5,002,598 


96.48 

46.39 
3540 


4.303.509 


61.74 


27,758,625 
17.564,694 

4,266,283 


53-68 
91.00 

58.00 



$165,487,140 $123,868,644 63.24 

Instead of paying $165,487,140, the market value of 
the goods mentioned, and just what in justice should be 
paid, plus a fair margin for handling, the consumers had 
to pay $289,355,784, an average addition of 63 and "^/i°<> 
per cent for which they got nothing. If the people got 
anything but robbery for the 124 millions of tariff paid, 
what did they get? The President would say the work- 
ingmen got it back in the shape of increased wages. That 
is, the earnings of the workingman must first go into the 
pockets of the privileged class if he would have good 
wages, good living and full opportunity for employment. 

President Roosevelt says : 

"The tariff rate must never fall below that which will 
protect the American workingman by allowing for the dif- 
ference between the general labor cost here and abroad, so 
at least to equalize the conditions arising from the dif- 
ference in the standard of labor here and abroad — a dif- 
ference which it should be our aim to foster in so far as it 
represents the needs of better educated, better paid, better 
clothed workingmen of a higher type than can be found 
in any foreign country." 

Could there be politics more pernicious, or statesman- 
ship of a lower order than appears in the above 
statement? Republicans strenuously contend that the 



I'LAIX FACTS AXU l-lGURl'IS. 25 

American workitii^inan can maintain l)cfittin)^ standards 
of living- only by paying $1-75 ^^^^ *J"^" *l<'ll'ir's worth of 
sngar, $2 for a dollar's worth of clothing, and so on to the 
end of the list. In other words, in order to be better edu- 
cated, better fed and better clothed than the foreigner he 
must i)ay two dollars for every dollar's worth of neces- 
sities hi. buys: that is. he must be robbed of half of his 
earnings, though he has to give full face-value for all the 
dollars he gets. Could anything be more monstrous? 

To show the turpitude of Re])ul>lican politics in this 
respect, as in all else, let me quote from the leading organ 
of protection, the "Home Market lUilletin." as follows: 

'A\'ages in the protected industries in Xew England : 

Xumber Average 

of hands amuial 

employed. wages. 

Cotton manufactures 185.822 ^245.-17 

Silk and silk goods 3^337 291.88 

Woolen manufactures 161.000 293.05 

Hosiery and knit gloves 28,828 280.53 

Iron and steel manufactures 140,078 303-5I 

Iron mining 3>i'^^7 30i-i9 

Total average wages $300-94 

"Wages in the unprotected industries in Xew England : 

Xumber Average 

of hands annual 

employed. wages. 

Agricultural implements 39..s8o $388.96 

Foundries and machine shops. . . .145.705 454-i8 

Lumber, planing, manufactures, etc. C^.~^[) 458-53 

Carpenters 1 5-'''54 544-o8 

Hardware manufactures 4-034 4-4-75 

Average annual wages in the unprotected industries.$456.87 
Average annual wages in the protected industries. 300.94 

Ditference in favor of theun])rotecte(lindustries.$i 55.<)3 
or 51 and forty-seven one-hundredths per cent. 

Protection cares for its own people by cutting down 
their wages 51 per cent, and builds up a ■"home market" 



26 PLAIN FACTS AND FIGURES. 



bv confiscatin^c: half their ahihty to buy and consume the 
products of labor. If a protective tariff is so good a thing 
for the protected workingmen, how is it that seven-tenths 
of the strikes and lock-outs in the United States occur in 
the distinctively protected industries, while not more than 
five per cent of the labor of the country is employed in 
the tariff favored industries? But it should be remem- 
bered that all are "protected" when they buy sugar and 
other things. Girls in the large cities receive from 4 to 7 
cents apiece for making shirts, from 7 to 20 cents apiece 
for making vests, and pay in like proportion for making 
all other garments ; and to keep up the American standard 
of living have to pay out half of their earnings for pro- 
tection against foreign pauper labor. 

Does the greater amount of work that farmers are 
doing for less money prove that they are living better or 
that they will be able to give their sons and daughters a 
better start in life? For Republican progress let us once 
more turn to crop statistics : 

For the six leading crops, wheat, corn, oats, rye, barley 
and buckwheat, the farmers of the United States received 
$50,212,328 less in 1899, the last census year, than in 1879, 
notwithstanding there were over a thousand million 
bushels more, and 55,989,218 acres more raised in 1899 
than in 1879. -^"^ this is but one of the warnings of the 
Republican quicksands into which we are rapidly sinking. 
Had the times got no worse for farmers than they were 
in 1879, they would have received for their immense crop 
of cereals iii 1899 almost a billion dollars ($921,146,008) 
more than they got. The average price per bushel in 
1879 for the six crops mentioned was 17 cents, or 39 per 
cent more than in 1899. 

Prices are Good When the Masses Have Means to 
PjUY. — If the Wilson tariff, 5 per cent lower than the 
Dingley tariff, brought such misfortune and widespread 
misery as the President says, will he explain how one 36 
per cent lower than the Wilson schedule brought pros- 
perity to everybody in the 50's? Below is given a little 
glimpse of prices of farm products during the "free 
trade era," as compared with high-tariff prices. 
In the first column will be found a short list of 
articles and the average i)rice of each during the year 
1900, taken from the statistical abstract of the United 
States Treasury. ' In the second column will appear a list 



PLAIN FACTS AND FIGURES. 27 

of the same articles, and the averap^e wholesale i)rice of 
each for the entire ])erio(l of ten years heicinninj^^ with 
185 1 and ending with iSdo. taken from Spoffcjrd's Ameri- 
can Almanac: 

Averai;e prices durini;" the year ii)(M) — 

Corn, per bushel 45 i^cnts 

Wheat, per bushel J^o 

( )ats. ])er bushel -7 

lUitter. per pound 17 

Lard, per pound 7 

Wool, per pound ■^') 

Cotton, per pound *) 

Beef, extra mess. i)er barrel '$[)■7^ 

fork. mess, per barrel S12.4S 

Average prices during the jjeriod iS51-(k:) — 

Corn, per bushel 80 cents 

Wheat, per bushel ^^-57 

Oats, per bushel 55 

Butter, per pound i<J 

Lard, per pomid 10' A " 

Wool, per pound 35 

Cotton, per pound 11 

Beef, extra mess, per barrel Si*"'.')*) 

Pork, mess, per barrel Si 7.03 

Thus it will be seen that for a low tariff period — not 
for a single year of unusual high prices, but for ten con- 
secutive years, the average price of corn was 35 cents a 
bushel more than in 1900 with high tariff, and the prices 
of nearly all other farm products made a similar showing. 
Wheat was /j cents a bushel higher with low tariff', oats 
28 cents higher, butter 2 cents higher, lard 3 cents higher, 
wool 6 cents higher, cotton 2 cents higher, beef S-.2C) a 
barrel higher and pork $4.55 a barrel higher. So in njoo 
it would take nearly twice as much of farm pnxluce to 
bring a hundred dollars as in a year of the "free trade 
era.'' And vet the President says the last forty-odd years 
in which the protective tariff j^olicy has becoiue part of 
the very tiber of the country have been the most pros- 
perous vears this nation has ever seen. Think of the 
license that would permit such a statement! lie may 
have intended to say not the "most i)rosperous"" but the 



28 PLAIN FACTS AND FIGURES. 



"most successful" having- in mind Republican politicians 
and the privileged few. 

The President's reference to our merchant marme, 
whicli has been strangled by Republicanism, doubtless 
means subsidy, but his plea reminds one of the man about 
to receive sentence for killing- his father and mother, who, 
when asked if he had anything to say, replied : "Nothing, 
except to request vour Honor to remember that I am a 
poor lone orphan.'' In i860 we had a merchant marine 
equal to anv in the world, and but for the blasting breath 
of Republican policies would long ago have been the 
largest. 

Why do we use our Army and Navy to occupy and hold 
the Philippines ? They say 'it is to fit the Filipinos for self- 
government. But why must this be done at the expense 
of American labor? The only apparently sincere answer 
is that it is for the purpose of increasing our foreign trade, . 
and the President says : 

"To abandon the islands completely, without even re- 
taining a coaling station, would mean to abandon the po- 
sition in competition for the trade of the Orient which we 
have acquired during the last six years; and, what is far 
more important, it would mean irreparable damage to 
those who have become the wards of the Nation." Who 
are the wards? 

Our Foreign Commerce. — Trade secured by war costs 
a hundred dollars for one received, but under Democratic 
auspices a foreign commerce was established commensur- 
ate with American resources and American vigor without 
expense to the public for military aid, or even for coaling 
stations in remote parts of the earth. 

Before the advent of Republicanism, next to agriculture, 
commerce was our greatest industry. Our vessels then 
did 75 per cent of our carrying trade ; now, next to noth- 
ing. Besides handling our own trade, nearly half of our 
vessels were engaged in carrying for the rest of the w^orld, 
going to and from every port of the globe, and from the 
topmast of every craft proudly waved the stars and stripes, 
not the symbol of "benevolent assimilation" from the 
cannon's mouth, but everywhere hailed as the glad em- 
blem of a generous civilization and freedom to all the 
children of men. We then did 40 per cent of the coast- 
wise trade of China, but under Republicanism that busi- 



TLAIX FACTS AXD I-IGURES. 29 



ness, like many otlicrs. (Iwindlt'd. aii<l lias iidw CDiuplctcly 
(Hod out. 

Wo then had the lead, and had our advancement ^^onc 
on at the rate which ohtained durinjj^ those few years of 
low tariff, we shoulil lon^' hefore this have Americanized 
the whole world with our marine, our manufactures and 
our superior products. Mr. John Uarrett. former minis- 
ter to Siam. now minister to I'anama. tells of the havr)c 
of our marine .Q'lory. 1 le says : 

"I have traveled around the worhl five times and have 
recently completed a trip of 50.000 miles in the interest of 
the St. Louis Exposition, and in all my journeys. I re.u^ret 
to say. I did not see one merchant marine shi]) tlyinjj^ the 
American fiag^." 

( >nc of the tine stories with which Senator Fairbanks 
tickled llio X'ermont farmers was that "Our foreign trade 
balance continues to increase our National wealth." A 
little investiijation will convince anyone that our forcifjn 
trade balance increases our wealth in the same way that 
Republican methods have increased every other j^^ood 
thing. For the five years ending with Kp^. the total 
value of our exports of merchandise was. .$7,417,065,181 
Total imports for the same time. . . . 4;750,597,902 



Excess of exports $2,666,467,179 

nearlv three billion dollars worth of our wealth lost under 
Repulilican rule in five years. 

During the last ten years our average per capita exports 
of merchandise have been $15.50 a year: and our per 
capita imports of merchandise during the same time have 
been $10.45 ^ year. That is, for every fifteen dollars and 
fifty cents worth of goods sent out of the country we have 
received ten dollars and forty-five cents worth, a loss 
ec[ual to $5.05 a year for each and every individual in the 
whole country. And. besides, in the same ten years our — 
Total exports of gold and silver have been.$i.O()2,8<j7,284. 
Total imports of gold and silver have been. ij22j(j7,202 

Excess of exports $170,100,082 

over one hundred and seventy million dollars in gold and 

silver sent out of the coimtry for which there is no ac- 
counting. 



30 PLAIX FACTS AND FIGURES. 

Who gets all these billions of dollars lost to the coun- 
try? Of course foreign owners of American property 
and bonds get a good deal; a large sum is paid to for- 
eigners for freights, and, besides, our rich tourists spend 
no small amount abroad. At any rate this balance of 
trade under Republicanism is so much loss to American 
producers. 

Contrast this fearful drain with the conditions which 
existed during the last ten years of Democratic adminis- 
tration. For the year 1858 our exports were slightly 
larger than our imports, but for every other year of that 
decade the imports were larger, and for the ten years the 
average annual per capita exports were $8.90; the aver- 
age per capita imports $10.22. That is, for eight dollars 
and ninety cents worth of our products sent away we got 
in return ten dollars and twenty-two cents worth, or a 
gain of $1.32 a year for each inhabitant of the entire 
country. 

The Manufacturer's Large Share. — According to 
the census of 1900 the increase of wealth was 4^ per 
cent. The profits of the manufacturers of the United 

States were $2,308,516,713 

^Yz per cei^t on the amount of capital em- 
ployed 442,416,892 



The amoimt received greater than their share. $1 ,866,099,82 1 
This divided by 76,000,000, the number of inhabitants, 
shows that $24.55 were taken on an average from each in- 
dividual for the manufacturers which did not belong to 
them. This would amount to an average of $122.75 foi" ^ 
family of five, besides what the Government and others 
get on account of the tarifi:'. 

Home Market. — They say this tarifif robbery is to 
build up the home market. See, then, for example, what 
the "home market" does for the States of New York and 
Pennsylvania, whose combined factory products are 
nearly half as great as those of all the rest of the States. 
The value of the farm property in New York was $146,- 
903,870 less in 1900 than in 1890. and in the same time 
the farm property of Pennsylvania depreciated in value 
$43,766,151. 

1 f a home market for the things we produce can be in- 
sured by tarifi^ robbery that takes the earnings of those 
who would buy the ])roducts of labor, why did we have to 



ri. \l\ I'AC'TS -VXD I'lCIKI-.S. 31 



export 63 |XT iriii moff per rapita of our ])r<)(lucts in i<j<j^^ 
tlian in iSU) when tlit-rc was low tarilT? 

President Roosevelt says that the value of farm ])ro])- 
crty increased $i2.5(XJ,ooo.ooo "in the forty years endini; 
in i(>(X)." This seems to he one of tlu' slronj,^ points of 
the President's recent letter of acceptance and it is uttered 
with his usual self-comi)lacence. To the j^^ood natured 
and unreflecting- farmer no doubt such increase seems a 
maj2^nificent shovvinjjf. and why. indeed, is it less deserving 
of the approbation of farmers than any of the achieve- 
ments witli which the Republican party plumes itself? 

A more careful scrutiny finds the statement an un- 
kindly, not to say brutal, sum'nestion — a cruel taunt, calcu- 
lated to remind farmers that in iSCjo. pric^r to the 40 years 
of Republican rule, they owned half the wealth of the 
country and the increase in the value of farm property in 
ten years of low tariff, from 1850 to 18^)0. was loi per 
cent, or more than k^ per cent each war. I'.ut the increase 
to which the President alludes was only 157 per cent for 
40 years, or about three and one-third per cent a year, ajid 
even this was due larjrely to the twelve new and flourish- 
ing States which have been added since iS>C)0. And fur- 
ther, this small gain in farm ])roi)erty is owned largelv bv 
those who are not farmers. 

Big farm crops are a spectacular feature of Republican 
speeches, but there are other big crojis for which the 
country is clearly indebted to Republican policies ; for in- 
stance, the li<|U(M- monopoly worth hundreds of millions, 
and from which millions can be drawn for campaign 
funds. There was nothing of the kind under Democratic 
administration, but at the time of the last official report 
there were 207.525 Republican institutions, called saloons, 
besides wholesale liquor houses, and dealers in malt 
liquors, scattered all over the land from which the armies 
of poverty, crime, wretchedness and Republicanism are 
recruited. 

The consumption of alcoholic liquors increased from 
6.44 gallons per cajiita in i860 to I9.<j8 gallons per capita 
in 1903. Crime, according to PresideiU IJrinkerhoff of 
the Prison Congress, has increased in still greater ratio; 
while the increase of poverty has been incomparabl}' 
greater. A large and steady increase of business failures, 
illiteracv, murders, suicides, divorces, embezzlements and 



32 PLAIN FACTS AND FIGURES. 

immorality of all kinds are parts of the story of Republi- 
canism. 

Though the functions of government have been greatly 
perverted for the promotion of "business," the Republi- 
cans have to confess after 43 years of complete domina- 
tion and control, that many of the industries of the 
country cannot survive without confiscating the earnings 
of others, and that affairs generally are in so precarious 
a condition that any mention of the return of the Demo- 
cratic methods which gave such tranquility and general 
prosperity in the fifties, would now produce an utter col- 
lapse of business. 

But the marvelous history and experience of this 
country, covering a series of years immediately prior to 
1861, is ample proof that the democracy of equal rights 
and equal privileges, will insure real prosperity and ad- 
vancement on all lines that lead to the welfare of the peo- 
ple. Under such conditions there will be no gulf of privi- 
lege to separate and give idle glory, luxurious wealth and 
aristocratic dominion to the few ; unremitting, unrewarded 
toil, poverty and slavery to the man}-. And with ugly 
hindrances removed the aspirations of the people rise ; 
they become more ambitious, virtuous and happy. And 
just in proportion as food, raiment and shelter for the 
body are improved, higher development of the mind and 
character are evolved. vSuch freedom with its elevating, 
purifying influences, is the rightful heritage of every 
American citizen, and if fully enjoyed will mean advance- 
ment, intellectually, morally and spiritually. Democracy 
inspires a measure and dignity of manhood which would 
stand aghast at the suggestion of statesmanship that would 
permit a part of the people to be robbed for the benefit of 
another part. Its grander men would sicken at the 
mention of the shameful maxim for the head of a great 
government, "Speak easy and carry a big club." 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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